Laki (Lucky)
by Empress Akitla
Summary: After a beloved pet dies, Danny comforts his daughter and Uncle Steve gets a little carried away in helping Grace feel better.


**Hey, look! It's not an AU. XD I was feeling sad, so have a little oneshot about pets and awesome uncles.**

 **Shout out to Phoebe Miller for being such a great short notice beta reader! She's always ready to read whatever I want to send to her. So awesome.**

* * *

Danny awoke to the sound of a clank outside. At least, he thought he did. He fought to peel his eyes open and stare at the white ceiling above his head while the morning light peeked through the cracks in the blinds of his bedroom. Carding his fingers through his wild hair, he frowned as he tried to come up with the reason why he was awake.

Grace.

A wave of panic took over and he flung the covers off, reaching for his crutches and limping away toward the living room. He hated crutches. He hated that he had fractured his ankle in a boneheaded move that he had pulled while chasing down a suspect. The only consolation in the matter was that he had caught the suspect and the guy was in jail now. He would leave the crutches behind, but his hobbling wasn't much faster and he would hate to exacerbate his injury further.

"Grace?" He called, peering down the hallway. A square of sunlight on the wall opposite her door told him that she was already awake. "Monkey?"

He grunted as he pivoted to head toward the backyard. Sometimes if Grace was up before him she would wander around looking at the flowers she had planted, even though he didn't really like her being out there alone. It was a quiet neighborhood and the yard was well fenced in, but the worry was still there.

He vented a sigh of relief. She was in the far corner of the yard by a bed of yellow daylilies. The relief turned into confusion when he spotted the shovel. Balancing on one leg, he slid open the glass door and limped onto the cement patio outside.

"Monkey, what're you doing? Early morning gardening before it rains today?" he asked.

Grace glanced up at the sky overhead where a few patches of thunderclouds were gathering for the forecast rain later that day. She looked at him and shook her head, returning to digging a hole with the shovel that was just a bit too big for her to comfortably use.

He caught the look and interpreted it as only a father could. "What's wrong?"

Grace sighed deeply and sadly. "Flower died."

Danny forwent the crutches at the single tear that rolled down her face. Busted ankle be darned. His kid's well-being always came first. He trekked across the dewy grass to wrap his arms around her in an all encompassing hug. She trembled slightly and swallowed.

"I'm sorry, Monkey. I would have helped you dig the hole if you would've woken me up," he mumbled into her hair.

Grace scrubbed the unbidden onslaught of tears off her face. "You can't dig because of your ankle."

Speaking of which, "Let's sit down, okay?"

The pair sat on the large rocks that lined the flowerbeds to keep their butts from getting wet on the ground. Danny held her close and examined the shallow hole that had been dug so far. Flower didn't need a very big grave, something even smaller than what Grace had dug would have worked.

"I just didn't want to throw her away or flush her down the toilet or whatever, you know?" she sniffled. "That just seems mean."

He nodded. He was more torn up about his daughter being sad than the actual death of her pet. If he was honest, Flower had always given him the creeps and he had initially been reluctant to let her keep it. She had begged and pleaded, promising to feed it and take good care of it. Flower's habitat hadn't taken up much space and was easy to move around, so Grace could take it with her between houses, and he had eventually been worn down.

"I'm sorry, baby. I know, it's hard to see a pet go," he said. He'd had his fair share of dogs and rabbits die. No death was easy. Being unable to give them a proper burial was even harder. "Flower had a good life with you though, okay? Had all the bugs she wanted, lots of sticks and leaves, she didn't even have to worry about birds, huh? You took good care of her, Monkey. It was just her time to go."

Grace looked up at him with red rimmed, watery eyes. "I wanted to put her over here 'cause that's where I found her."

"It's a very nice place to be buried," he agreed. "Are you going to put me back here when I go?"

"Danno!" she smacked his bicep.

He chuckled and smoothed his hand over her hastily tied ponytail. "Don't worry, Monkey. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. I have to see you become a doctor or a marine biologist, right?"

"Not a cop?" she tried to smother her grin.

"Not a cop," he said seriously, smirking when her face lit up with an ornery grin. "Do you already have Flower out here?"

"Uh huh," she said. "You think this hole's deep enough?"

"If you dig any deeper you might be burying her in Chinese soil," he commented with a wave of his hand toward the grave.

Grace giggled and then sobered as she picked up a piece of paper. Giving her pet a final goodbye, she slid the praying mantis off the paper into the hole. Danny helped her scoop soil by hand over the beloved insect until the earth was flat again.

"What happens to bugs when they die?" she asked.

He dusted his hands off and pressed his lips to her temple. "I don't know, baby. But I'm sure she'll enjoy being by the flowers. Now, how about some pancakes for breakfast?"

"With blueberries and whipped cream?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Yeah, she was pretty broken up about it," Danny said.

"Sorry, brah," Kono patted his arm.

The team had come to visit during their lunch hour, bringing with them gifts of pizza and breadsticks. The cousins were sitting in the living room with Danny while Grace was showing her Uncle Steve where Flower had been laid to rest in the backyard.

"I didn't even know praying mantises lived that long," Chin said. "She caught that one last fall, didn't she?"

Danny nodded. "Apparently, they can live for a year, which I've never heard of a bug doing, but I guess they can. I don't know how old that thing was when she caught it, so it could've been that old. I mean, she had it for several months in that little bug house thing you got her."

"You know, a kitten lasts longer than a praying mantis," Kono said suggestively. "One of my cousins–"

"Nope! No way. No cats, no rats, no ferrets, no birds, no snakes, no lizards, no nothing. She already has a dog and a rabbit at Rachel's house," Danny objected.

"You realize half of those are illegal in Hawaii anyway, right?" Chin said.

"Well, that just makes my job of telling her no easier. Do you know how hard it is to have a kid fall in love with some stupid little furball in a pet shop and have to tell them no, they can't bring it home?" Danny flicked a hand at himself. "No pets. I'm not sure I even want another bug in the house."

* * *

Steve didn't do things by halves. It was all or nothing. That was why he was going armed with the research he'd performed the night before. Never go into an operation blind. Plus, he didn't want to get suckered into something.

Yesterday, when Grace had showed him where Flower was buried, he had felt bad for her. He never really had pets growing up beside a frog he had caught once, but her somber visage when she talked about the insect cut him in a way he didn't think possible. He had sat her on his knee and asked if she was going to catch another one. She didn't think so. Did she want another pet? She'd always wanted a fish, but Danno didn't want to deal with cleaning out a tank once a week.

"Sorry, buddy, but you're going to have to live with it," Steve grinned as he put the truck into park outside of the aquarium store in the strip mall.

The sign above the doors read Garden of Eden, and when he walked in his mind took him to the dense jungles of Asia and Africa. The way it was decorated with corkboard formed into the shape of tree trunks and fake leaves dangling from parts of the ceiling definitely was reminiscent of the jungle. The warm and humid smell from the many open air aquariums and small indoor pond was the icing on the cake.

"Hello," a woman popped out of a backroom where he could see more rows of aquariums. She was native Hawaiian with a mane of dark hair pulled back behind her head and had a silver ring in her nose and several more in her ears. "How're you today? Need some help with anything?"

"I want to get an aquarium for my niece," he said.

"Sweet. How big are we talking? Salty or fresh?" the woman asked with a broad grin.

Don't get suckered into anything, he reminded himself. He had done his research and knew what he wanted. "Small. Freshwater."

"Is it her first aquarium?" she asked.

Steve nodded. "Her dad's a bit of a curmudgeonly type when it comes to pets, so something low maintenance is required."

"Right," she said knowingly. And maybe she did. "You didn't tell him you're getting her one, did you?"

He cracked a smile. "I'll have to sleep with one eye open for a while."

She laughed and came out from around the register counter. "Alrighty, then. What kind of fish were you thinking about getting, or do you want some suggestions?"

"A betta," he said. That was the fish that Grace had specifically mentioned. He had to do some research on exactly what it was and the best conditions to keep it in, but he had a pretty good idea of what he was going to need.

"Great starter fish. Contrary to popular belief, they're much easier to keep than goldfish," she led him by some glass bowls and colorful gravel to a selection of already setup tanks. She pointed to one with a vivid red betta doing lazy rounds in it. "I'd suggest at least a five gallon to start with. You could manage with a three gallon, but I wouldn't go any smaller than that. Everyone thinks they're puddle fish because they live in shallow rice paddies, but–"

"Those rice paddies are football fields long," Steve said. He'd seen them in person. Had even slogged through them before. He'd probably walked by hundreds of wild bettas during his tenure overseas in Thailand, Cambodia, and other Asian lands.

"Someone did their research," she said.

"I read that the more live plants you have in a tank, the cleaner it is and the less maintenance you have to do on it?" he gestured to the lush green underwater plants in the display betta aquarium.

She held her hand level and wobbled it. "Eh. Depends. Low light, no CO2 plants are low maintenance once they're grown in, but they grow slow, so getting them to fill up the tank to a point where they're doing most of the cleaning takes a while."

He deflated. That part had not been in his careful research. He knew that Danny didn't want to bother with a tank because of their hours with Five-0, and that was why he had wanted to get something easy to take care of. He liked antagonizing his partner, but didn't unnecessarily want to add more responsibilities to the load he already carried on his shoulders.

"You know, I have some already grown in five to ten gallons in the back if you want to look at them," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to the other room. "I sell them as a full setup with the heater, filter, light, and everything already in it. They're even already cycled so you can pop a betta in it as soon as you want."

He followed her to the back room and was met with almost too much. Aquariums full of tropical fish ranging from Mollies to Discus to Cories to Cichlids to fish that he had never seen before filled his vision. And that was just on the freshwater side. The saltwater side was also a plethora of colors and shapes. Then his eyes were drawn to a wall full of green tanks, ranging in size, shape, and price.

A steady grin grew on his face as he looked at them all. His wallet was going to hurt, but the look on Grace's face was going to be worth it.

* * *

The cousins had absconded away with Danny, telling him some tall tale about needing to get out of the house and get some fresh air. They were planning on picking up dinner and taking it back to the house. It would give Steve just enough time to complete his mission.

The passenger door on the truck opened and Grace climbed up into the seat, huffing dramatically as she flopped back and pulled the seatbelt down over her shoulders.

"How was school today?" Steve asked, easing out of the traffic around the school and out onto the street.

"Okay, I guess. I hate going back to school after a holiday," Grace said.

The day before had been a Monday involving some excuse for schools to not have the kids attend. What holiday had been yesterday was anybody's guess. He had dropped her off that morning seeing as his partner couldn't drive with his ankle and Rachel was in Maui with Stan until Thursday. He was the go to pick up and drop off guy when Danny was unable to do it. It made him feel kind of special.

"Where are we going?" Grace asked suddenly. She glanced at the buildings they were driving by. "Home's the other way."

"It's a surprise," he said. He couldn't help the smile that appeared as Grace bounced in her seat.

* * *

Danny was instantly bombarded with his extremely excited daughter as soon as he hobbled into the house. The cousins snickered and hurried by with the bags of takeout.

"Danno! Danno, Danno, Danno!" Grace was jumping. Actually jumping. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her so wound up.

"What? What's gotten into you? You've turned into the Energizer Bunny. Uncle Steve didn't let you have coffee, did he?" he asked, placing a hand on her head to keep her grounded.

She shook her head so wildly that one of her pigtails smacked her in the face. "Ow."

He snorted a laugh and smiled warmly at her. "Okay, use your words. Why are you so excited?"

"You've gotta come see," she waved for him to follow her to her room. "Come on, come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, okay? Remember, I only have one good foot, huh?" he said.

A red flag went up when he saw Steve standing outside of her door grinning like an idiot and a wary sensation washed over him. An excited Monkey, a grinning partner, and what he was now sure had been a distraction to get him out of the house didn't bode well for his blood pressure.

"What did you do?" he questioned.

Steve didn't say anything, just kept grinning and swept his hands toward Grace's room. Grace was already inside, still gesturing for him to come in. He limped in and then looked at where she was pointing. His jaw almost hit the floor.

"What is that?" his hands fluttered out toward the new addition on the desk at the back of the room.

"It's a fish tank!" Grace said. The look of pure joy and sweet innocence on her face almost made him forget why he was upset. Almost. "Uncle Steve got it for me!"

He glared at his partner as he walked into the room looking proud of himself. "You do realize that I'm going to have to be the one to clean it out, right? What were you thinking, you putz?"

"No, no, Danno, it doesn't need cleaned," Grace said. She came over and took his hand, slowly guiding him closer to the tank. "See all the plants in there? They keep the water clean and all I have to do is put more water in when it evaporates. Isn't that cool?"

He hunched down to look at all of the incredibly green plants growing from the dark river sand, from the hunk of driftwood, and floating on top. An oddly beige and red colored betta took notice of him and danced angrily at the glass, puffing up and flaring its fins at him.

"You already have a fish for it?" he asked.

"Uh huh. Uncle Steve picked me up from school and took me to the fish store so I could pick one out," Grace explained. She put her finger up to the glass and the fish danced angrily at her, as well. She giggled. "I named him Mufasa."

Danny ran his hand over her hair as he stood up and shot Steve one last glare. "So long as you feed him and take care of him, you can keep him."

Grace squeezed him in a tight hug and then darted away. Danny eyed his partner and shook his head.

"What?" Steve asked.

"You, my friend, are wrapped around that little girl's finger like a string," he said with a smirk of his own. He glanced at the tank again. "So, I really don't have to clean it?"

"Well, she said that you should probably do a partial water change on it once a month, but she showed me how to do it," Steve said and slung his arm over his shoulders. "I would clean it every week if it meant I could see her that happy."

Grace came back in, dragging Chin and Kono by the hand. She showed them the tank and told them exactly what plants were in there (anubias, crypts, java fern, and duckweed) and what kind of betta Mufasa was (a male veiltail) and what type of food she was going to feed him (Hikari pellets) and how she was going to take care of the tank (Uncle Steve).

Danny smiled softly. "Yeah. Nothing beats seeing your kid that happy."

"Knew you'd warm up to the idea, buddy," Steve said. "Now, where would you like me to put the 100 gallon aquarium?"

Danny's heart stuttered and he narrowed his eyes at him. "Steven, you better be joking."

Steve walked out into the hallway at a much quicker pace than he could follow. Stupid busted ankle. "What do you think of Discus? No, wait. Maybe some Cichlids would be better. They've got a bad temper like you."

"I swear, if you try to put a freakishly giant fish tank anywhere in my house, I'm going to drown you in it," he growled as he finally caught up to him in the kitchen.

"You going to do that while you're Peggy the Pirate, or after?" Steve asked.

Danny hefted one crutch up and hit his leg with it. Steve yelped and rubbed the back of his thigh, giving him a dirty look.

Danny arched one eyebrow. "Argh."

* * *

 **Ah...my guinea pig Rose who've I've had for eight years passed away Sunday night. Kind of put me in the mood to write this.**

 **Tropical aquariums are my thing, man. All of my fish tanks (a 55 gallon, two 5 gallons, and a 3 gallon) are filled with live plants. Unfortunately, they're not as densely planted as Grace's, so I still have to clean them once a week. XD**

 **Thank you for reading, reviewing, and faving!**


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